Amtrak dog catching

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IceColdMintJulep

IceColdMintJulep

Service Attendant
AU Supporting Member
Joined
Apr 30, 2004
Messages
217
Location
Oklahoma
I have been messing around with the list of Greyhound station closures (all 264 or so of them) in my idle time at work. Kind of a unscientific study that only my warped mind could come up with. So here is the first piece that I have come up with. There are 25 stations Amtrak has where Greyhound did also which are closing. Therefore is would be reasonable to assume that some of those people who formerly took the dog to/from any one of the 25 cities would now choose Amtrak for the convenience as opposed to driving somewhere else to go Greyhound or fly. I cannot find boarding and alighting figures for Greyhound stops, but I would assume at least 5K total per year among them all and Amtrak would pick up at least a quarter of that business if not more. Here are the twenty five cities:

Arkadelphia, AR, Dunsmuir, CA, Davis, CA, Auburn, CA, Atatscadero, CA, Carpinteria, CA, Irvine, CA, Fort Morgan, CO, Fraser, CO, Grandby, CO, Hutchinson, KS, Dodge City, KS, Garden City, KS, New Iberia, LA, Winona, MN, Warrensburg, MO, Lincoln, NE, Grand Forks, ND, Albany, OR, Chemult, OR, Klamath Falls, OR, Purcell, OK, Columbus, WI, Portage, WI, LaCrosse, WI.

It's a tie for trains picking up business with the Builder, Starlight, and CZ picking up 5 each followed by the Surfliners and SW Chief with 3, then the Capitols with two pickups, and SL, Mule, Cascades, Heartland Flyer, and Texas Eagle picking up one a piece. Note some cities have multiple trains like Davis, CA. More warped thoughts to come.....
 
bmlock, for future reference, be careful of that term as in Amtrak terms it is generally accepted to mean a relief crew picking up a train that has a crew that is dead on the law.
 
I haven't heard dead on the law before. Is that another term for going over your hours? I never heard the term dog catching used on the railroad, but my experience with Amtrak is extremely limited as I worked for BNSF.
 
I really appreciate your research on that, bmlock. I wonder if Amtrak has issued a press release in these communities like they did in the Northwest after the previous round of Greyhound cuts.

Amtrak already has a strong presence in places like Dodge City, and I imagine it could get even larger now that Greyhound is gone. Also consider that some of these, like Dodge City, have very limited airline service, so they will have one incredible mobility problem is Bush kills Amtrak!
 
It probably wouldn't be a bad idea to run an ad or something to remind and/or let people know that Greyhound service is terminating, but Amtrak is still there to serve them. The cities listed above were direct advantages. I am in the middle of seeing how many of the other cities losing Greyhound service will now have an Amtrak station closer to them than another Greyhound station. This also could be good stuff to throw at your hard working representative.
 
I think it safe to say that, at most -- if not all -- of the above mentioned cities, Amtrak was already serving more passengers than was Greyhound.

A Greyhound driver that I know recently told me that he has never dropped off a passenger at Irvine, CA. He also told me that the only times he ever picked up passengers there were when the trains were running very late.

What about this California state law that prohibits dedicated Amtrak California thruway buses from transporting local, bus-only passengers? The purpose of this law was to protect Greyhound from unfair, subsidized competition. What is going to happen to passengers traveling to or from cities such as Buellton, Lompoc, and Atascadero? Greyhound will no longer be servicing these stops. Amtrak buses are now the only intercity surface carriers that serve these communities.

Mixed-mode connectors receive a much lower subsidy than do dedicated connectors. The Visalia-Santa Maria connector, operated by Orange Belt Stages, seems to be holding its own, transporting Amtrak, Greyhound, and local passengers on an equal share. The San Jose-Santa Cruz connector, which services ACE, CalTrain, and Amtrak Capitol Corridor trains, seems to be doing much better after conversion from dedicated to mixed-mode.

The same cannot be said for passengers going to or from Lompoc or Buellton. This law needs to be repealed.
 
Now some cities you mention are still served by Jefferson Bus Lines, like Grand Forks, ND. Greyhound did serve the same markets as Amtrak, from GFK, such as Fargo and Minneapolis. Jefferson also goes to Fargo, but continues south to Sioux Falls, Omaha, and Kansas City. It also comes from Winnipeg. So we lost bus service to Minneapolis pretty much. That is a highly traveled route from GFK, on Amtrak and by Northwest Airlines. Only bad part, is Amtrak is overnight, Northwest is $300. Driving is 2.10 a gallon now.

Chris
 
Chris,

Don't you think that Amtrak and Jefferson could make good partners? If they worked out a Thruway arrangement, Amtrak could add several new cities to their map and get an international connection into Winnipeg. Not only that, I've noticed that Jefferson serves an entire region that could connect with up to four different Amtrak trains, including the Texas Eagle. I think that an Amtrak-Jefferson partnership would vastly improve mobility in that entire region of the country, however I am speaking as an outsider looking in.
 
Yes. Rimrock stages in Montana is the same way. It isn't that big of a deal anymore to get a website going that you can purchase tickets through, so I don't know why they don't, because it certainly hurts them. I know on Jefferson Lines you can book on the Greyhound site, but your origin or destination must be a Greyhound stop. All of them are this way as far as I know. I tried to make a mock reservation from shelby, mt to fargo, nd on greyhound, and it wouldn't let me do it even though it lists both stations.
 
bmlock said:
I have been messing around with the list of Greyhound station closures (all 264 or so of them) in my idle time at work.  Kind of a unscientific study that only my warped mind could come up with.  So here is the first piece that I have come up with.  There are 25 stations Amtrak has where Greyhound did also which are closing.  Therefore is would be reasonable to assume that some of those people who formerly took the dog to/from any one of the 25 cities would now choose Amtrak for the convenience as opposed to driving somewhere else to go Greyhound or fly.  I cannot find boarding and alighting figures for Greyhound stops, but I would assume at least 5K total per year among them all and Amtrak would pick up at least a quarter of that business if not more.
Click to expand...
Bmlock,

You can stop messing around now. :D Amtrak has taken all the guess work out of your hard work. Take a look at the latest Amtrak press release located here.

They list all the bus stops eliminated by Greyhound and the nearest Amtrak alternative, bus it thruway bus or actual train.

Thanks for your hard work though. :)
 
Most of the intercity bus routes that are currently owned, and recently abandoned by Greyhound, were once owned by the railroads.

Just take a look at the names of the carriers: Pacific Greyhound Lines (SP), Overland Greyhound Lines (UP), Pennsylvania Greyhound Lines (PRR), Central Greyhound Lines (NYC), Santa Fe Trailways (ATSF), Burlington Trailways (CB&Q),

and Missouri Pacific Trailways (MP).

At one time the railroads decided to replace unprofitable routes with buses, but then they started routes that competed directly with the rail lines.

All of this has come full circle. Now Amtrak is providing service to many towns that no longer have bus or airline service.
 

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